Opinion

The Thaiger Opinion Columns

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    Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?

    Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...

  • Phuket Opinion: Stateless visitors need more than hospitality

    Phuket Opinion: Stateless visitors need more than hospitality

    PHUKET: The plight of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar’s Rakhine State during the current sailing season clearly shows the need for Asean and other international bodies to come together to help solve, or at least alleviate, the root causes of the problem inside Myanmar as soon as possible. This will of course be no easy task. Few international humanitarian issues on…

  • Phuket Opinion: Curing the festering sores of “public’ transport | Thaiger

    Phuket Opinion: Curing the festering sores of “public’ transport

    PHUKET: Efforts by the international diplomatic community to pressure authorities in Bangkok to tackle the festering crime in the Phuket public transport sector and improve Phuket’s reputation as a tourist destination are laudable and have the full support of the Phuket Gazette. No subject has been the topic of more futile editorializing in this space than Phuket’s bizarre patchwork of…

  • Phuket Opinion: Taxis – a decade of blocking progress

    Phuket Opinion: Taxis – a decade of blocking progress

    PHUKET: The recent police-ordered closure of tour counters run by Russian nationals in Kata-Karon is just the latest in a long series of protest-related events in Phuket that undermine the rule of law by rewarding law-breakers and punishing those who play by the rules.The closure of the counters followed a blockade of the Karon beachfront by members of a so-called…

  • Phuket Opinion: Losing Patong’s beauty to the dust of progress

    Phuket Opinion: Losing Patong’s beauty to the dust of progress

    PHUKET: Wichan Sawatdirak, now in his 80s, was the Kamnan for Patong for more than 20 years, long before Patong became a municipality.Born in Baan Mon village, he has lived in Patong his entire life. Respected by Patong locals, he was instrumental in the development of Patong’s transport infrastructure by providing vital roads around Patong City and links to Kathu…